The man had first lodged his complaint with the Human Rights Commission, where it was rejected. The commission found that the complaint lacked substance, as the recruitment policy was a "special measure" under the ACT's human rights laws.

The man asked the commission to refer his complaint to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which it did on November 19.

The government fought back, and attempted to have the tribunal strike out the man's claim. It said among other things that the man did not have standing to launch the challenge. The government had been unable to speak to the man, or establish if he had ever applied for a firefighting job. He had ignored emails and subpoenas that asked him to show he had applied for a job with ACT Fire and Rescue.

The man said he had applied, but the government had no record of his name in the last recruitment round. The tribunal noted however, that he may have used a different name, and had expressed concerns his complaint may compromise future applications.

The tribunal said his self-stated desire to be a firefighter was standing enough, and further that his prospects of him becoming a firefighter had been compromised by the policy.

"Arguably, as a consequence of such equal opportunity policies, there will be fewer places for male applicants, the standard for male applicants will be higher, and those male applicants who are not at the top of the selection process may miss out where they otherwise would have been successful," Senior Member Heidi Robinson said.

She rejected the ACT government's request to strike out the claim.

A spokesman for the emergency services minister, Mick Gentleman, told Fairfax Media last week it would not be appropriate to comment on the case, as it was currently before the tribunal.

But the spokesman said ACT government recruitment processes meet all statutory requirements, and he reaffirmed the ACT Emergency Services Agency's commitment to the policy and increasing diversity across all of its services.

The spokesman pointed to Fire and Rescue NSW, the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade and the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service, which had all set 50/50 gender recruitment targets.

Canberra's 50/50 target would remain in place for the future, he said.

There won't be a hearing on the man's complaint, but the tribunal said it will make a decision after it had considered both sides.